Serious advice, a way to avoid AI art usage AND keeping a thing that can help reduce workload (compared to traditional art) would be pixel art. Helps keep things interchangable, obviously though a few more things may be put not as custom inputs but as selected items, but its a sacrifice im willing with. It is a versetile solution, so long as you find the right folk and get it programmed cause its rather interchangable that you could do it on a layer system to call for by every part.
Sorry if this sounds picky or something but it is a genuine suggestion to think over that I hope gets considered. Plus it matches the text based thing thats going on for the moment, in a sort of retro styled thing, you know?
Best of luck with your stuff